The Baby sitter
by AiryAquarius
Summary: When Inuyasha is left incharge of a toddler who cant stop screaming and 2 elementary schoolers, he realises that if he doesnt do something soon, his very sanity could be at stake. What he does might just change his life as he knows it. InuXKagome. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**My first Inuyasha fic. Please, do be kind to me!**

**I edited this, somewhat. No major changes though, except I changed Aurelia's name to Katsumi (because the western name didn't make sense). And thanks a lot for the all the reviews and favs!**

**EDIT::_I'm so terribly sorry but there seems to be some kind of a mix up with Aurelia/Akiko/Katsumi's name. It's Katsumi. Sorry for uploading the uh wrong chapters. Some weird shit has happened, 'cos it's correct in the copy I have saved. Huh. Would like to thank a guest reviewer for pointing that out. _**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. Only those which you don't recognise belong to me. So there.**

_**The Babysitter**_

Chapter-1

There was a hustle and bustle in the house, and Inuyasha was wondering why. He was sitting on the rug in his room, which was on the first floor of Miroku's and Sango's house. The ground floor belonged to them, seeing as it was larger. The first floor had only one bedroom with an attached bathroom, which was the main reason why it was smaller compared to the ground floor which had two bedrooms.

Before long, he was putting his ear to the floor, trying to make out what was happening. Just then, his door opened, and Miroku came in, looking a little stressed. "Inuyasha, may I ask you a small favour?" He asked it very sweetly, which set off an alarm bells in Inuyasha's head.

"Ookaaay… what favour?"

"Ah, well, you see, Sango and I have to go out, because one of my friends had an accident and broke his leg, so we have to go to the hospital to see him, and, uh-"

"Miroku, just cut the crap and tell me the truth."

Miroku sighed audibly. "We have to attend this official party, because it's very important, a lot of prospective clients will be there or so my boss says, and the babysitter who usually comes is busy and can't make it, so I was wondering if-"

"You were wondering if I could take care of the kids."

"Yes. Pleeease?"

"Hm…well, ok."

"Thank you! You are a life saver!"

"So when will you leave?"

"Ah, there is something else you should know…"

"Like what?"

"Katsumi will be there too."

"What! That brat? No way am I going to baby-sit her."

"Oh come on Inuyasha. Please? Can't you do me this one small, teeny weeny favour?" And here Miroku used his sparkle.

Inuyasha grumbled. "Okay fine… Hey, wait a minute. How did Sesshoumaru agree to leave her here when you would be gone? That's not like him at all."

"Well, he doesn't know we're going out."

"What? He's not gonna like that. Why did you agree to it in the first place?"

"You know how it is. He looked at me and asked if I could watch her for a bit and I just said yes."

"But you shouldn't lie to him. He won't like it at all when he finds out his precious daughter was under _my_ care, of all the people in the world."

"If anyone can do it, you can! So please, will you help me? Please, pretty please?" The sparkle made an appearance again.

Inuyasha sighed. "Ok fine, since you seem really desperate."

"I will make it up to you. I promise!"

**qpqpqpqpqpqpqpqp**

Down stairs, Sango was frantic, trying to make some last minute arrangements. She looked very pretty in her pink dress. Inuyasha wondered how she could look so cute after taking care of her daughter, son, Miroku and the house. She looked at him and smiled "Hi there! Thank you so much for agreeing to look after them! Samira's sleeping now, so you don't have to worry about her for a while. There's cake in the fridge, and pizza in the container on the stove, so feel free to help yourself. And Sammi's milk is in the bottle next to the stove, and her food is in the container next to the milk, ok? And, all her diapers and napkins are in a bag on the side table, next to the bed. The first aid kit is in the kitchen, clearly marked. If there is an emergency, all the numbers are on a paper attached to the fridge door, ok? Feed her at about seven 'o clock, and put her to sleep at around eight. Katsu and Goku should be in bed by eight thirty. Their food is in the microwave; just warm it up before you serve it to them. We'll be back at nine-thirty. Hm? And again, thank you! We'll see you later, okay?"

All of this was spoken so quickly that it took him some time to understand it. Miroku came to him, took his hands in his and solemnly said "All the best. We'll be back before you know it. Bye now!"

Inuyasha saw them off at the door, waving good bye till the car turned a corner. 'What the hell am I gonna do with those kids? As long as the baby's asleep, I'll be ok. So all I have to do is pray that she stays asleep till it's time for her dinner…' Samira was a very cute kid, with her father's black hair and warm brown eyes. She was only one and a half years old. She was alright as long as she was sleeping or playing with her dolls or getting cuddled by her parents. But when she began to cry, generally all hell broke loose. She had an annoyingly loud, high pitched, typical baby voice, and her crying was more like a wailing siren. It took a lot of effort to stop her once she had started.

Goku on the other hand, was a very quiet kid. He took after his mother. He was helpful, and loved his family. Inuyasha had watched him a lot when his parents were busy. For an eight year old, he was remarkably mature. He didn't expect any problems from him.

But Katsumi, she was a whole different ball game. Being Sesshoumaru's daughter, it wasn't very surprising that she was a brat. She threw tantrums, pulled pranks on unsuspecting people, was always vanishing from her house, was perpetually stealing sweets behind her mother's back, and wanted things which were impossible to get (she once asked for a cloud for Christmas) and blew her top off when she didn't get what she wanted. All in all, she was the naughtiest, most annoying kid he had ever known. Granted she looked very adorable, but that was no excuse for being a child from hell. Sesshoumaru, the personification of stateliness and Katsumi, the wild child. What an irony that was. Both her parents were very refined and always poised. One had to wonder where she got her mischievous genes from.

Since Sammi was sleeping, and Katsu and Goku were in Goku's room playing with some puzzles, he didn't think that he was going to be put under any stress any time soon. So he went back inside, to the kitchen, where the fridge was. Opening it he found half a cake, and it was his favourite chocolate flavour, no less. Licking his lips, he took it out, set it on the counter and went knife hunting.

**qpqpqpqpqpqpqpqp**

He was sitting in front of the TV, watching the football match he had been waiting for for days, cheering every time his team stole the ball. They were about to score again when-

"WAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIL!"

That was Samira, letting the world know that she was awake and was hungry or needed a change or something. "And the headache has begun." Inuyasha muttered to himself, annoyed that he couldn't watch the match anymore. He got up and went to the nursery, which had been peaceful just a few minutes back. Now it was like someone had set off an air raid siren. "Boy, how does Sango manage you?" he asked, picking her up and taking her to the kitchen. "Are you hungry? Do you want milk? Baby food? Will you please keep quiet? Please?" He was pleading with her; his eardrums couldn't handle much more of the aural assault. Setting her down on the counter, he went to take the bottle of milk, which was missing from where Sango said it would be next to the stove. "Damnit! Where is it?" After looking everywhere, uttering curses all the while, he finally found it in the drawer where he had found the knife earlier. He remembered absently moving things around in his search for the knife.

He felt stupid.

"Uncle Inu! Why is Samira crying? What did you do to her?" that was Katsumi, her shoulder length silver hair held up by two pony tails on either side of her head.

"I didn't do anything"

"Exactly what I mean. Babies need to be taken care of. You shouldn't just forget about them as you watch some stupid football game!"

"You talk too much for a seven year old, Katsumi."

"When will mum and dad be back, Inuyasha?" Goku asked, scratching his elbow as he entered the kitchen. He had been asked to forget calling him 'uncle' Inu.

"At around nine-thirty. Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to know."

"Ok, why don't you guys go to the living room? I'll be back in a few minutes."

He took the bottle, and placed it next to the stove. Gently lifting the still crying kid, and slightly rocking her, he put the nipple of the feeding bottle in her mouth. The horrible wailing died down and was replaced by a soft contented mewl.

Sighing with relief, Inuyasha carried the baby back to the living room, trying to salvage what he could from the match.

Sadly, he couldn't.

Samira started crying again. This was a little better than the air raid siren, but was still annoying. It was especially annoying because the bottle was still half full. She threw the bottle down, the top came off, and the milk spilt everywhere. "Damnit! What the hell! Why me! Aargh!" He groaned as he put her down on the sofa.

"Uncle Inu! You broke her bottle! And you cursed!" Katsumi looked shocked.

"I'm sorry my lady, I will not do it again."

"Are you being sarcastic, uncle Inu? Because I can totally tell, you know?"

Muttering under his breath, he took the bottle and put it in the kitchen sink. He didn't know if it could be fixed because he hadn't even bothered to look at it closely.

He made his way back to the living room where the tot was wailing loudly.

"Uncle Inu, I think she didn't like her milk!" Katsumi commented, as if she was someone whose comments were not meant to be ignored.

"Don't be stupid, that's her most favourite thing in the world." Goku retorted.

"Well, then I think she doesn't like uncle Inu."

"Hm… maybe you're right about that..."

"Guys, please, don't make this harder for me! Do you have any idea how to stop her crying?"

"Try giving her baby food, Inuyasha"

"Do you think that will work?"

"He's her brother, he knows her better than you do, so you should listen to him without raising unnecessary questions, uncle Inu"

Inuyasha glared at her, but nevertheless went into the kitchen to get the container of baby food.

When he came back, he was met with two kids staring at Samira and laughing quietly.

"What are you talking about?"

Katsumi turned to him with her large baby blue eyes twinkling innocently "Nothing, uncle Inu. Goku was just telling me that it's a Herculean task to get her to eat that muck and only Sango has been successful so far! "

"All the best Inuyasha! You can do it" Goku encouraged him brightly.

Inuyasha swallowed. He spooned out some of the gooey stuff and bent to the crying tot. "Say aaaah baby!" But she just wouldn't. He waited till she opened her mouth and put the spoon in. She spat it out at him. "Yuck! Damnit!" he exclaimed as he wiped the yucky thing off his face.

"EEW! Gross! Thank god I'm not in uncle's place!"

"See, I told you this would happen. Isn't it funny?" Goku laughed.

'Mature kid my foot.' Inuyasha grumbled inwardly.

"Oh come on uncle, don't look so sad!" Katsumi wiped at a bit of the glop dripping off his chin with her handkerchief.

"Why don't we try to make her laugh? Then maybe she will agree to eat a little something and then you can put her to sleep!"

That sounded like a great idea, so he abandoned the container on the table and instead set about trying to make her laugh. He made all sorts of funny faces, tickled her, and even tried playing peek-a-boo! Nothing worked. Even the kids helped, but Samira was in no mood to close her mouth.

And at this point, he was all but insane.

"AAAAARGH! JUST STOP CRYING!"

That was a very, very wrong thing to do.

Samira stopped, and scrunched up her face, new tears beginning to form in her eyes. She sucked in a deep breath, making soft whimpering noises.

Inuyasha panicked. "Oh no, not that, please…no …please don't!"

"Uh-oh…"

"Run for it!"

She opened her mouth wide, exploding in the loudest, shrillest, most agonizing cry he had ever heard in his life.

"!"

"Uncle Inu! Make it stop!" Katsumi wailed.

"I'm gonna die!"

Inuyasha thought his eardrums were going to tear and he would bleed to his death.

His patience had finally snapped. So, he decided he had to do what had to be done.

He began searching for the sitter's number.

**qpqpqpqpqpqpqpqp**

"Um, hello? Is this Yuka?"

"Yes! And who are you?"

"My name's Inuyasha, I'm a family friend of Miroku's. You're the one who usually babysits Samira right?"

"Yeah that's me. But I thought I already told them I couldn't make it today?"

"Yes I know. I'm taking care of her for them. But I have never taken care of kids before and she's driving me crazy! On top of that I have 2 other kids to take care of. Please help me, or I'll go insane! Please? I don't have anyone else's number!" He sounded really desperate, and the girl felt sorry for him.

"Ok, how about I ask a few friends of mine? I'll let you know if no one's free. Is that ok?"

"Yes, that would be great! Thank you."

Click.

"Uncle Inu, may I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Are all babies as noisy as Samira is?"

"I don't think so. Well, at least I hope they aren't…"

"Inuyasha?"

"What?"

"I think something's burning, I smell something weird."

"Me too!"

"Damn!" and it was a wild dash to the kitchen.

"Uncle Inu! You cursed again!"

************_continues…_**

**So, how was it? Is it even barely funny? Please let me know. Feel free to tell me what you think.**

**Reviews welcomed and appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**It's the second chapter! Thanks for waiting.**

**And I decided to change Aurelia's name to Katsumi, because the western name didn't make sense to me after a while.**

**Disclaimer-I do not own Inuyasha, or any of its characters. I do, however, own Katsumi, Goku and Samira. I also do not own any of the websites I have mentioned here. Don't sue me.**

_**The Babysitter**_

Chapter-2

Within half an hour of his phone call, the doorbell rang.

"Yes! Sanity is mine!"

Inuyasha practically ran to the door, giddy with joy. In the background, Samira was still wailing, but it was not so loud now.

The kids had tried to calm her down and stop her crying during the entire time he tried to open the oven, throw the burnt food out the window and fan the horrible burnt smell out of the house while they waited for the replacement sitter to show up. But they had failed miserably. There still was an odd smell in the house, and their dinner was burnt and sitting in the bin out the window. Inuyasha had totally forgotten that he had started the oven in hopes of having an early dinner and putting the kids to sleep early so they wouldn't have to put up with the air raid siren. But now, all that he could do was hope that whoever was coming could cook, because the only proper restaurants that delivered to the door step were the ones that were outrageously costly, and there was no way Sesshoumaru could know that his precious daughter had eaten anything as _common_ as pizza, no sirree.

Opening the door, he found himself standing face to face with the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She had long black hair, and beautiful brown eyes and a nice smile.

"Hi! I'm Kagome. My friend said you were having problems with your kids and wanted a baby sitter?" She asked.

Inuyasha sighed. "They're not my kids. I'm watching them for a friend. I'm Inuyasha by the way. Come in…" he stepped aside, allowing Kagome to pass through.

As soon as she stepped inside, she heard Samira's wails. "How long has she been at it?"

"Almost an hour. Although she's much better now compared to half an hour ago…"

"Oh. That's sad. She must be really uncomfortable then. Let's see now…" She removed her grey trench coat to reveal a navy blue sweat shirt and a sky blue miniskirt. She set it down on the couch along with her bag. "Where is she?"

"In the bed room, right over there…" he indicated with his hands to where the door was.

Kagome took two steps, and stopped. "What the heck is that _smell_?"

Inuyasha turned red in embarrassment. "I forgot that I had dinner in the oven, it got burnt… Heh…"

"Oh… So I guess that means you have to start dinner all over again, huh?"

"Um, about that…"

Kagome's eyebrow twitched. "You don't know how to cook, do you?"

"I don't."

"Gosh, that' bad…"

"Don't tell me… you can't cook either?"

She nodded solemnly.

"Oh CRAP! Damnit damnit damnit! AARGH!" He sat down on his haunches, clutching his head in his hands.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kagome hurried over to him, sitting down so she could see eye to eye.

"HOW can you NOT know how to COOK? He screamed right into her face.

She got mad. So _she _screamed into _his_ face.

"WELL, WHY don't YOU know how to cook?"

Inuyasha stood up, so he could look down at her. "THAT'S DIFFERENT! YOU'RE A GIRL!"

Kagome stood up too. "AND YOU'RE SEXIST!"

"AM NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

"You're not only sexist; YOU'RE SHORT TEMPERED AS WELL!"

"I am NOT SHORT TEMPERED!"

"I thought adults were supposed to be more mature?" Interrupted Goku from the doorway.

"Goku, go back inside. NOW." Inuyasha snarled at him over his shoulder.

He shrugged and vanished to where he came from.

"I don't believe you snarled at a child.!"

"He's my friend. He won't be offended."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because this has happened before!"

"Aha! So you _are_ short tempered!"

"I give up!" Inuyasha sat back down. "What the hell am I gonna do? What'll we eat for dinner? I can't let the kids starve…" He looked so forlorn and lost kagome felt her anger melt away.

"Hey, its ok, we can order from a restaurant!"

"I don't have any money."

"WAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

"DAMN! We forgot about the baby!

**qpqpqpqpqpqpqpqp**

After the long and combined efforts of all of them put together, Samira was finally pacified and fed and put to sleep.

"Would you believe that this angelic baby can raise all of hell with her wail?" Inuyasha wondered aloud, looking at the cherubic little bundle of pink curled up contently on her side, sucking her thumb looking more innocent and adorable than ever.

"I normally wouldn't have, but now that I have first-hand experience, I know it wasn't a joke when people say appearances can be deceiving." Kagome agreed.

"So uncle Inu, what are we gonna do about dinner?" asked Katsumi, rubbing her stomach worriedly.

"Inuyasha, please don't tell me you are gonna cook! You do remember what happened the last time you-"

"Oookay, what's past is past! Why do we need to bring that up again? Right? Good boy… Heheheh…" Inuyasha had a fake grin on his face as he sweat dropped nervously.

Kagome and Katsumi looked at him weirdly.

"So… what are we gonna do?" Goku asked.

"I wonder what father will have to say when he finds out I was left to starve?" Katsumi looked at Inuyasha pointedly when she said this.

He sweat dropped and looked away. He didn't even want to think about that now.

"This is so depressing…" Goku mourned from where he was sprawled on the couch. Katsumi was sitting on the other chair and Inuyasha had slumped to the ground in defeat. Kagome was sitting on the loveseat, deep in thought.

"I know!" Kagome snapped her fingers suddenly, standing up.

"What?" All three of them chirped, their faces lighting up in hope.

"Why don't we see if there are any cookbooks? I'm sure there must be _some_ recipe that we can try out? And I've helped my mom out in the kitchen before so I'm not totally inexperienced either! We can do this!" And she pumped her fist in the air in enthusiasm.

Vigor returned to everyone at the thought of food, and they were quick to catch up with Kagome's enthusiasm.

"I know where my Mother keeps 'em!" Goku volunteered. "Follow me!"

They marched over to Miroku's study, where there was a big wall mounted bookshelf replete with encyclopaedias, novels, dictionaries, puzzles, and you guessed it, cookbooks.

There were around five of them and two of three were around an inch thick, and they looked intimidating.

The first book's title read 'Your party pastries.'

"Ok, that's out of the question." And it was set aside.

The second book was 'The guide to Authentic Asian cuisines' which had a lot of pictures and looked extremely difficult to execute.

Book 3: Simply Asian by Neil Perry.

Not a chance. Toss it aside.

Book 4: Food and travels Asia by Alastair Hend.

Just looking at it made their heads spin. Toss that away too.

Book 5 was more of a folder filled with clip outs from various magazines which everyone felt too tired to look through.

"This sucks!" InuYasha whined.

"Yeah! And looking at those pictures just made me hungrier!" Katsumi all but wailed.

"If we could access the internet I could at least play Games and I wouldn't feel so hungry then…" Goku looked wistfully at the sleek monitor that sat on his father's desk. "Ever since dad locked my account I haven't been able to use it without his permission. Sigh…"

"That's it!" Kagome snapped her fingers excitedly for the second time that evening. But it wasn't received with much enthusiasm. "Goku, does your dad have a laptop?"

"Yeah but it's strictly off limits. I'm not supposed to touch it unless the house is on fire and even then its ok only if I'm rescuing it. Or something like that." He shrugged.

"Ookay… but you know where it is right?"

"Yup."

"Can you bring me it's charger then?"

"What would you do with the charger?"

"So I can use it on my own laptop silly! You bring it and I'll get mine." And she skipped off to where she'd left her satchel.

**qpqpqpqpqpqpqpqp**

"Why fear when Google is here!"

"You said it sister!"

"Enter 'recipes for beginners'!"

"Ok! So let's see…"

there were a lot of sites, and Kagome clicked on one that seemed promising.

RED VELVET CAKE popped up on the screen, followed by a picture of a red cake with white icing which looked like something out of a fairy tale. All four of then began to salivate as their stomachs made loud rumbling noises.

"Make it go 'way Kagome…" Goku tried to shield his eyes from the tantalising picture.

"Ohhhh caaake, cooomme toooo meeee… I summon theeeee…" Katsumi was moaning.

"Kagome… too weak… can't take it… this is torture… pleeeeease stopppp…" Inuyasha clutched his stomach and fell on the floor with and exaggerated moan "noooooo…"

Kagome clicked the back button with much difficulty and a "sigh…"

…Only to be redirected to a page with 'DELICIOUS BROWNIES' and a close up of a tray of brownies dripping with chocolate sauce sitting in the middle of a couple of scoops of chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

There was a collective "NOOOOOOOO!"

Overcome by guilt, she quickly entered "easy recipes for beginners" in the search box.

She came across a website called 'Simple recipes for students' which she clicked.

The site said it was for students by students, so she thought maybe it could work.

There were many divisions like Dinner, Snacks, Dessert, and such. Then she saw a search box which asked for the name and of an ingredient so it could list out all the recipes which used that ingredient.

"Hey Goku, what ingredients do we have to work with?"

"Lemme go see…"

5 minutes later…

"We have Eggs, onions, rice, bread, tomatoes and a lot of other vegetables."

"Ok… So let's try entering Eggs in the search box…"

Most of the recipes included chilli and one of the recipes was 'hard boiled eggs'

Kagome closed the site.

"This isn't working out at all!" Kagome put her head in her hands.

"Here, let me have a go" Inuyasha took the laptop from her hands and entered 'Japanese recipes for beginners' and hit the search button.

"Aha! We found our dinner!" He announced triumphantly.

His discovery: FRIED RICE MADE IN A FRYING PAN.

**********_continues…_

**Red velvet cake really does exist. And I couldn't look away, it looked so damn alluring… I wish I could cook... Sigh. Then I could make my own cakes. I luuurve sweets! (Who doesn't, right? ^^) yummy!**

**Again, so sorry for the long delay! I hope it was worth the wait… Please tell me what you think, 'cos reviews are always eagerly welcomed and appreciated! (Sheesh, I wonder where I picked up this line… It sounds corny… but it's true… so I like it! Heh. Weird aren't I?)**

**Now on with the next chapter…**


	3. Chapter 3

Yes! It's the last chapter of The Babysitter! Finally!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

(runs and hides from projectiles of all shapes, sizes and natures)

I changed Aurelia's name to Katsumi. A western name didn't make sense to me. Yes, the realisation hit after all this time.

I'm sorry for making all of you wait! Thanks a bunch for all those (a measly three, but still) reviews, favourites and author alerts too!

Now, on with the story. It's a large chappie.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and Kagome. However, I do own my OCs Goku, Samira and Katsumi.

The Babysitter

Chapter-3

Goku manned the laptop with Katsumi, leaving Inuyasha and Kagome decided to do the actual cooking.

"Hey Goku, read out the ingredient list, we'll see if we have everything covered." Kagome asked while Inuyasha got a frying pan and a wooden spatula.

"Um… 1 to 1 1/2Cooked plain rice, 1 cup chopped green onion, 1 cup chopped vegetables of your choice, 1/2 to 1 cup chopped roast pork or ham, 2 medium eggs, salt, pepper, 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon soy sauce, cooking oil, and sesame oil is optional."

Katsumi squinted at the screen. "But this says it's for one to two portions! How are all of us gonna eat then?"

Kagome hummed. "Well, that's just a matter of increasing the amount of the ingredients. And well, I checked the fridge and we don't have any leftover rice, so I guess we'll need to make that from scratch."

"We also don't have any roast meat. Nor do we have green onions." Inuyasha added from behind the large frying pan he was holding.

"Then we'll make do with normal onions. And we'll skip out on the meat bit totally, and add extra veggies maybe. Yeah, that'll work." Kagome tapped her chin. "We'd better get started on the rice then."

Three sets of eyes stared at her.

"What, I know how to make rice okay?! I'm not that ignorant!" she stared pointedly at Inuyasha.

He decided to let that insult go.

After puttering about with the electric cooker, Kagome was sure the rice would turn out exactly like the instructions said.

"The first point here, says that you should have all your ingredients ready to go. First the aromatic vegetables. Here, green onion is used, but you can also use normal onions!"

"See, I told you!" Kagome beamed. "Now where are the normal onions?"

"In that basket in that cabinet." Goku pointed.

"You know Goku, why don't you help them with the ingredients while I read the recipe?" the silver haired girl smiled sweetly at him, hoping to hide the fact that she wanted to hog the laptop. It was such a pretty blue colour!

"That's a good idea, actually." Inuyasha grudgingly admitted.

"You just want the laptop all to yourself, don't you?" Goku gave her a sceptical look.

"Of course not!" she countered while crossing her fingers behind her back.

"Okay guys, that's enough." Kagome cut in. "Come help me with these onions, ne, Goku."

"Sure."

As Goku set about peeling the onions, Katsumi continued. "If you want spicy fried rice, you could add a little chopped red chilli pepper. You could also use a little crushed ginger and chopped garlic to add flavour. I don't like garlic Kagome. Can we skip that?"

Kagome was more than willing to accommodate. "Sure. Inuyasha, can you chop the peppers please?"

Inuyasha accepted the peppers from Goku and took a knife. He was diligently chopping them into tiny pieces when his eye started to itch. "Ow, my eye…"

"Inuyasha, DON'T-"

But it was too late.

"AAAAAH MY EYYEEEEEE!" Inuyasha screamed as he hopped around the kitchen, clutching his eye, making the problem worse.

"Uncle Inu! You shouldn't touch your eyes after you've touched chillies!"

"Well, it's a bit too late for that piece of information, don't you think?!" Kagome yelled to be heard over Inuyasha's "OWWWWWW"s and "YAAAAAH!"s and other loud expressions of pain.

By the time Inuyasha had been escorted to the bathroom to wash the chilli out of his eyes, Goku started sniffling at steady intervals.

Kagome panicked. "Oh god! Goku, what's wrong?"

"(sniff) I don't know, I started (sniff) cutting the onions and (sniff) my eyes started (sniff sniff) watering and burning (sniff). Ah my eyes sting! (sniff)" He wiped at his eyes pitifully.

"Of course! The onions, I forgot! I'm so sorry Goku, I should've cut them myself! Go sit in the living room for a while. Katsumi, you too." She shooed both the kids out of the kitchen even as her eyes began to water. "Damn onions…"

"Why don't I get to go to the living room as well?" Inuyasha complained.

"Because you're an adult. Now suck it up and cut up the rest of the onions."

"What?! Why me?!"

Kagome decided that she'd rather do the work herself than listen to Inuyasha whine and complain. "Fine, just hand them over…"

"Inuyasha mentally cheered and moved aside to let Kagome have a go at the onions. "Hey, why don't you (sniff) chop the carrots? It's over (sniff) there… And after that, (sniff) start on the capsicum…"

"(sniff) Sure, I can do that… (sniff)"

"Oh (sniff) my, these onions are really (sniff) getting to me."

"Yeah. (sniff) Understatement of the (sniff) year."

Kagome wiped at her eyes. "O- (sniff) okay. I'm done with the onions.(sniff)."

"Good (sniff) for you. (sniff)"

"(sniff) This really huuurts!" Kagome wailed.

"Wash your eyes! (sniff) Damnit, let's just go and sit in the living room (sniff) for a while!"

"Yeah.(sniff)"

Five minutes later (the time taken for the stinging and the tears to cool off) found them back in the kitchen again. Goku was chopping the cabbage and Kagome declared the rice was done. Inuyasha fetched the eggs from the fridge and Katsumi fiddled with the laptop, waiting for them to finish the basics so they could get to the cooking part. She was bored.

"Hey Goku, why don't you let me chop the rest of the cabbage?" She batted her lashes at him sweetly.

"No, you're too young to handle knives." Inuyasha interjected.

"Oh come on! I'm seven! That's old enough!"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"Guys, guys, please!" Kagome pacified them before something broke out. "Katsu, Inuyasha's right. Knives aren't toys. You could get hurt."

"But Kagome! My mum lets me help out in the kitchen all the time! I always help her chop the veggies!"

Inuyasha knew his niece. She would rather run away from home than help out. So when she said that, he was suspicious. Very suspicious. He did not notice her crossing her fingers behind her back (again).

Kagome frowned, but relented. "Well, if you say so…"

Katsumi happily plucked the knife out of Goku's hands and began cutting the cabbage very awkwardly.

Goku went through the recipe again and gathered the seasonings.

"Oil, salt, pepper, soy sauce." He ticked them off his fingers.

"Thanks a bunch, Goku!" Kagome ruffled his hair.

"Hey! I'm helping out too! Don't I get thanked!?" Katsumi whined.

"Katsu, focus on the cabbage! It won't be my fault if you cut yourself!"

Predictably, Katsumi did just that.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH! IT HUUUUUUUUURTS!" she screeched like the world was ending.

"Ohmigod! Where's the first aid kit?"

"Mom keeps it in the bathroom cabinet! I'll get it!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Bloooooood! I'm BLEEEEDING! I'M GONNA DIEEEE!"

"YES Katsu, that's what happens when you don't pay attention to your work!" Inuyasha snapped at her, already shuddering at the thought of what would happen if Sesshoumaru found out that his precious daughter had gotten hurt in his care.

"WAAAAHH! UNCLE INU JINXED ME! IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!" and then she looked at her injured thumb, where a teensy trickle of blood was oozing out. "SO MUCH BLOOD! I'M GONNA DIE AND IT'LL ALL BE UNCLE INU'S FAULT! DADDY'LL MAKE YOU PAAYY!"

"Stop screaming, brat!"

Another wail joined the one in the kitchen.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA A!"

Kagome facepalmed and Inuyasha cursed.

"Come on, Katsumi, it's just a small cut, let's run it under the tap, ok? Inuyasha, you go to Samira." Kagome coaxed the silver haired girl who was still in hysterics.

Inuyasha grumbled all the way to the bedroom.

By the time he was back -after somehow managing to cling to his sanity, hearing and all his hair while he begged and pleaded and coddled and cooed till the infant finally went back to sleep- Goku was holding Katsumi's hand as Kagome carefully wrapped a band-aid around her thumb. The girl was still sobbing although now it had diminished to occasional hiccups.

A few minutes later, the veggies and rice and condiments were arranged in a row on the counter, waiting to be cooked. Goku and a very-chipper-looking-for-someone-who'd-just-recently-almost-died Katsumi took up posts at the laptop, agreeing to alternately read each step of the recipe. Kagome and Inuyasha waited for further instructions.

"Okay! It says the frying pan has to be heated over high heat if it's an electric stove, or medium heat if it's a gas stove!"

"Then medium heat it is…" Inuyasha turned on the stove and Kagome placed the pan on top.

"Spread a little oil on the bottom of the pan. It should be hot enough that when you put a little bit of beaten egg in it, it should cook right away."

"Hey! You guys never said anything about beating the eggs!" Inuyasha exclaimed indignantly.

"Well, do it now! The pan's heating up!" Goku supplied helpfully.

Kagome immediately mixed 3 eggs.

"Hey Kagome, the recipe says you should use only 2 medium eggs!"

"Yeah Katsu, but since we're not adding any meat, we'll add the extra egg!" Kagome smiled cheerfully.

"Guys, smoke is rising outta the pan…" Goku warned.

"Oh right! There we go!" Kagome poured a small amount of the egg on the pan and it immediately got fried.

"What next?"

"Pour in the beaten egg and spread it around the bottom of the pan as if you were making an omelette.

"Done."

"Now beak up the eggs rapidly to make scrambled eggs. When the eggs are nearly set but a bit runny, take them out of the pan."

"Hm.." scrape scrape scrape "Uhh.." scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape "Why isn't it coming off?" Inuyasha ground out as he continued viciously scraping at the pan.

"Inuyasha! What are you doing! That's enough!" Kagome forcibly wrenched the spatula out of his hand grabbed the frying pan's handle. She then proceeded to lift it and pour the eggs out. "Uhh… what am I supposed to pour this into?"

"We need a plate!"

"Where are the plates?"

"In that cabinet." Goku pointed.

"This one?"

"No."

"This one?"

"No."

"Goddamn which one is it!?"

Katsumi gasped. Again. "Uncle Inu you cursed!"

Inuyasha grit his teeth as he finally opened the correct cabinet and pulled out a dinner plate.

"This one?" Kagome raised an eyebrow.

"Just use it."

"Add a little fresh oil and keep the pan back on the heat. Now add the non-aromatic veggies."

Inuyasha dumped the chopped carrots and cabbage into the pan.

"What about the capsicum?" Goku asked, pointing to the pile on the cutting board.

"Hm… we'll add that in with the aromatic vegetables." Kagome replied as she stirred the contents of the pan.

"Hey Kagome, why don't you try tossing the stuff into the air like they do in restaurants and TV shows?"

"Uncle Inu! It says here specifically NOT to attempt anything like that. Because they have a much stronger heat source and you don't." Katsumi smirked.

Inuyasha grumbled.

"Okay, now add the green onion or the other aromatic vegetables into the pan. Stir around for a couple more minutes, using the whole of the pan."

Inuyasha proceeded to (again) dump the chopped up bits unceremoniously into the pan, wincing as the red bits of pepper seemed to wink at him. Huh.

He stared at the damned vegetable with murderous intent. "Hey, can I have a go at the stirring?"

Kagome took one look at his face. "No."

"Why not?!" Inuyasha asked. Well, more like whined, actually. Not that he'd ever admit to that. Men didn't whine.

"Well, you look like you're gonna attack the vegetables, and I don't want you to ruin dinner. So no. I'm not letting you touch the spatula."

Goku and Katsumi snickered.

"Oh shut up." He grumbled.

"Okay, back to cooking. Season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. It should smell very good now. Does it smell good, Kagome?"

The black haired girl took a deep breath. "Mmhm. Smells good."

Inuyasha nodded in agreement.

"I wanna smell too!" The girl jumped off her chair and bounded over to the stove. She wasn't tall enough, so when she attempted to hoist herself up she nearly fell into the pan.

Inuyasha pulled her back in the nick of time. "Jeez, kid, be careful!"

Kagome nearly had a heart attack. "Katsumi! Don't do stuff like that! You got hurt just now!"

Katsumi, a little shaken herself, just retreated to her chair and didn't retort for once.

Goku continued. "Add the warm rice and spread it over the bottom of the pan. Break up any clumps with the spatula. When the rice at the bottom starts to sizzle, stir it up."

"If the rice gets stuck to the pan, just scrape it off, as adding more oil at this point makes the whole thing go greasy."

Kagome diligently stirred the rice, making sure that the rice wasn't getting burnt.

"Re-add the scrambled eggs and stir."

Inuyasha managed to gently pour the eggs into the pan this time. Kagome gave him an impressed smile as she continued to stir the rice.

He blushed and turned away.

Katsumi and Goku exchanged suspicious glances.

"Initiating analysis of strange behaviour." Goku muttered conspiratorially to Katsumi.

Goku cleared his throat. "Clear a space on the bottom of the pan and add the soy sauce directly to that spot. When it sizzles, immediately mix the soy into the rice."

"Two teaspoons, right?" kagome looked over her shoulder.

"Yup!"

By the time Inuyasha handed her a spoon, she'd already poured an approximate measure into the pan.

Inuyasha felt slightly embarrassed. Kagome smiled at him apologetically. Inuyasha blushed and turned away (again).

Goku and Katsumi looked between the two adults with furrowed brows. Very suspicious. "Analysis in progress, gathering data..."

Goku cleared his throat again. Inuyasha shot him an annoyed look. Goku just stared at him pointedly. "Finally, taste, and add additional pepper or salt if needed. Serve right away when it's still hot."

Katsumi cheered. "Yay! Dinner's done! Let's eat!"

Kagome taste tested and smiled, finding it pretty good. A little spicy for her taste but still good. "Yeah! Inuyasha, could you help me serve this?"

Inuyasha, who was thinking about how pretty Kagome looked when she smiled, stuttered before he responded with a "Yeah."

Goku and Katsumi exchanged knowing and slightly devious looks.

Inuyasha and Kagome bumped into each other at least four times as the set the table, and each time they apologised with blushing faces.

Their fingers brushed at least five times over the table as they reached for the sauce bottle and their glasses. They exchanged fleeting glances and immediately turned away when they saw either of the kids looking at them. And the meal had barely even started.

"Analysis complete, report awaiting confirmation." Goku whisperred, before winking at Katsumi.

On her signal, Katsumi grinned at Inuyasa with the most diabolical grin in her arsenal. "Uncle Inu, do you have a crush on Kagome?!"

Inuyasha would've choked on his food if he had any in his mouth.

"What?!"

"It's really obvious, you know? You guys keep staring at each other all blushy and stuff. It's kinda icky." Goku scrunched up his nose as he leaned back in his chair.

Kagome blushed crimson as she studiously ignored everyone and stared at her half empty plate of rice.

Inuyasha gaped at the kids like they had sprouted horns. By the devious looks on their faces, it looked like it.

"You guys, just, eat your food!" Inuyasha grumbled, also blushing and picking at his plate.

"Aha… so you do have a crush on her… And Kagome has a crush on you too!" Katsumi sing-songed.

It was a very awkward dinner. Katsu and Goku stopped their comments but they still giggled at them throughout the meal. Well, Katsu giggled and Goku snickered. But that's not important.

What's important was that Kagome and Inuyasha both looked like tomatoes for the rest of the meal, furiously staring at their plates as they ate, and not a word of conversation escaped their lips.

Finally, dinner was done and Inuyasha ushered the kids (who were still giggling) into bed. Kagome was in the kitchen, washing up.

"Hey, you don't have to do that. I'll do it myself." He smiled shakily at her as he entered the kitchen.

"Oh no. That's alright. I'm almost done anyway." Kagome smiled back at him, the tiniest traces of a blush on her cheeks.

Inuyasha practically melted.

"Uh, um, so, how much do I have to pay you?"

Kagome looked up from where she was packing up her laptop. "Huh?"

"No, I mean, you came here at the last minute and you helped out so much. I never would've survived this evening if it weren't for you… so…"

Her blush deepened. "Oh no, that's alright. It's just a favour, and anyway I don't ever take money for my babysitting jobs."

"Oh… okay…"

The silence was followed was pretty nice, as Kagome handed over the washed plates to him and he wiped and put them away. He was contemplating asking if she wanted some coffee but she spoke before that.

"Oh, it's almost 9.30! I should really get going." Looking at the thinly veiled disappointment on Inuyasha's face, she added "I would love to stay, but I promised my brother I'd help him with his homework…"

Inuyasha nodded. "Oh, that's alright. Not a problem."

They walked in silence to the door.

"Uhh… so can I have your phone number?"

Kagome blinked, a little pleased that he'd asked, but trying not to show it. "Why?"

"So I can call you if something like this happens again…" He replied sheepishly. "And so I can talk to you again…" Now he blushed an endearing shade of pink.

Kagome smiled. "Sure. I'll be waiting…"

"Be safe. Goodnight."

"Goodnight to you too. See you around!" She gave him a quick peck on his cheek and was off before he could do anything.

Inuyasha lightly touched his cheek. "Yeah… See you around…"

"WOW! Inuyasha got kissed!"

"Kagome and uncle Inu, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Katsumi! Goku! You're supposed to be in bed!"

"Do you think Inuyasha has cooties, Katsu?"

"Eww cooties… Inuyasha's a cooty monster now!"

"YOU GUYS! GO TO BED NOW! AND STOP WITH THE COOTY TALK! I'M NOT A COOTY MONSTER!"

!*!*!*!*! Fini !*!*!*!*!

Whooooo! I'm done! (happy dances and throws confetti everywhere) I hope you guys like it! It was initially supposed to end at "see you around…"but I couldn't resist the last bit! Hehe!

Hope you liked, and I hope the wait was worth it!

Do review please!


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